Printing machine



H. L. THOMPSON ET AL 1,841,861

' Jan. 19, 1932.

PRINTING MACHINE Original Filed July 28, 1928 8 Sheets-Sheet l PRINTING MACHINE a Sheet-Sheet 2 Original Filed July 28, 1928 III/11111111111111.

Jan- I 1 32. H. THOMPSON ET AL ,86

PRINTING MACHINE Original Filed July 28, 1928 8 Sheets-Sheet 3 b11419, H. L.. THOMPSON ET AL 1,841,861

PRINTING MACHINE Original File'dJuly 28, 1928 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 Jan. 19, 1932. H. 1.. THOMPSON ET AL 3 1,

I PRINTING MACHINE Original Filed July 28, 1928 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 2] in 6 I Jan. 19, 1932. H. L. 'THOMPSON ET AL PRINTING MACHINE Ori ginal Filed July 28. 1928 8 Sheets-Sheet 6 Jan. 19, 1932. H. L. THOMPSON ET AL 1,841,851

PRINTING MACHINE Original Filed July 28. 1928 8 Sheets-Sheet 7 Jan. 19, 1932. H. L. THOMPSON ET AL 1,841,861

PRINTING MACHINE Original Filed July 28, 1928 a Sheets-Sheet s 5 v JZZ/E/ZZZKS Fatented Jan. 19, 1932 tanner LINETED .STATES PATENT QFECE HER-3&1 L. THOMPSON, F ELGIN, AND ELI WILDERSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AS

OHS TO ADDBESSQGBAPH COMPANY, OF WELMINGTON, DELA WARE, A CORPGEA- TIGN 0F EELAWABE PRINTING MACHINE I Original application filed July 28, 1928, Serial N 0. 296,036. Divided and this application filed November 12, 1930. Serial No. 495,039.

This is a division of our application, Serial No. 296,036, filed July 28, 1928, for printing machines.

This invention relates to printing machines .3 for printing in successive operations from a printing form onto sheets successively passed into the machine.

The salient objects of the invention are to provide a carriage in which a plurality of 0 sheets may be arranged which may be successively passed into the machine; to deposit and hold the sheets in printing position during printing movement of the carriage; to give the printed sheet an initial discharge movement in the direction of the return movement of the carriage; tov accelerate the discharge movement of the sheetsin adownward direction; and tocarry the discharged sheets to a storage member wherein the sheets may be collected and stored until it is de sired to remove them.

In the accompanying drawings a selected embodiment of the invention is illustrated, and therein Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a printing machine constructed in accordance with our invention; I

Fig. 1a is a detail view of an arrangement employed to prevent rearward movement of the carriage; i Fig. 1b is a detail view taken substantially on the line l"1 on Fig. 2a;

Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the chine looking in at the rear end thereof;

155 Fig. 2a is fragmentary plan view of one corner of the machine;

Fig. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view taken substantially along the edge of the printing form; Fig. 3a is a detail View of a band support arrangement Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view taken through the printing machine;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 4;

F 6 a fragmentary longitudinal. sectional view through the carriage showing the platen in printing posit-ion;

7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 showing the carriage in advanced position;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken substantially-on the line 8-8 on Fig. 6;

Fig. 9 is a detail View, drawn to an enlarged scale, taken substantially 011 the line 99 on Fig. 11;

Fig. 10 is a view taken substantially on the line 10-10 on Fig. 8;

Fig. 11 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 11-11 on Fig. 8; and

Fig. 12 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 12 -12 on Fig. 8. p

In the drawings 13 indicates the main frame of the machine which includes longitudinally extending side bars on which a carriage'14, embodying upper'and lower parts, ismount d for reciprocal movement. In the main frame 13 a bed 15 is provided on which a stationary printing form may be mounted,

and if desired suitable means may be provided for moving an address form, or other movable printing device, into relationship with the stationary printing form in the manner set forth in the previously referred to application. In the carriage 14 a: roller platen 16 is provided which is movable over the printing form in order that an impression may be made on a sheet, such as indicated by 17, fed thereto from the sheet magazine 18. The sheet is forced into relation with the stationary printing form by the platen and an ink ribbon is interposed between the sheet and the printing form. Such an ink ribbon is indicated by 19 in the drawings and suitable means are provided for moving this ribbon, one such means being disclosed in our c0- pending application, Serial No. 495,040, filed November 12, 1930, which is also a division of the previously referred to application.

The carriage 14 includes alower part 20 and an upper part or housing 21 and is mounted for reciprocal movement on the frame. Ball bearings 22, 22 (Fig. 8) of the type disclosed in Patent No. 1,? 50,140, patented March 11, 1930, are interposed between the longitudinal side bars 23, 23 and the frame to facilitate movement of the carriage. It is desirable to provide a locking means which will prevent any reverse movement of the carriage-before it has completed its full stroke, and to this end we provide a roller lOO 24 (Fig. 1a) which travels on the edge 25 of of the main frame and cooperates with the cam faces 26, 26 on a block 27 inserted in a recess 28 in the carriage and also with spaced recesses 29, 29 in the edge 25 of the main frame. The roller 24 is confined between the edge 25 of the frame and the cam faces 26, 26 and the Walls of the recess v28.s that it will always'be retainedin place between the carria e and the frame. The recesses are provi ed at the end of travel of the carriage in each direction to permit reverse movement of the carriage. \Vhile the carriage is travelin between the ends of its movement in eit er direction the roller is riding on the edge -01 the frame and is carried along by the carriage. The cam faces 26, 26are dispwed to wedge the roller between :the carriage and the frame at any position of the roller between the recesses 29, 29, and this wedging willzlockthe carriage sothat itcannot be moved in reverse during its forward or during its return movement.

A plate 30 is pivoted to .the frame at 31 (Figs. nd 5) andcarries a clip 32 made of spring metal and having knobs 37 which extend throughholes 38 inrthe mask 39. The

cross bars 40 of the ribbon .frame are provided with recesses 41 .to receive the knobs ,37. A mask 39 having printing openings is provided with the apertures 38 through which :the knobs 37 project to hold the mask on the :plate 30. In the form shown, this imask allows certain portions .of the .body fomn and theaddress form to :be printed and prevents .the platen from coming in contact with the ribbon at the end ofeach printing stroke.

A sheet supply holder 18 is mounted on the marriage 14 and it comprises a frame 44 (Figs. 2, 3 and 4) having .a pair of downwardly and forwardly extending slotted arms 45 to .detaohably engage thetransverse rods 46 and 47. The rod 47 is threaded on one end and carries a square nut 48, which is arranged between one of the arms 45, and another adjacent and integral .arm 45 (Fig. 2). A knurled knob 49 is fixed 'to the end of the rod 47 to rotate .the same. During rotation .of the rod 47 the squared nut 48 is translated along the threaded portion of the rod and moves thesupply frame 44 transversely, so that sheets 17 may be properly positioned laterally relative to the 4 od-y form. A rod 50 is pivotally mounted in the supply frame 44 (Fig. 4) and it carries a baflle 51. A pair of guides 52 (Fig. 2) are connected to the supply frame'to side register the sheets. One of the guides 52 is provided with -.a projection 53 which projects through a slot 54 in the frame and is guided by the bars 55 to permit side movement of the guide to accommodate sheets of various widths. A set screw 56 is secured to the projection 53 and a thumb nut 57 maintains this guide in adjusted position. A rod 58 is detachably mounted in the supply frame, and a rack 59 is slidably mounted on the rod. A set screw 60 is provided in the lower end of the rack 59 to move the rack vertically on the rod 58 to accommodate sheets of various lengths. The rod 58 is provided with alongitudinal groove 61 (Fig. 2) which receives the set screw 60 so that the rac 59 is always maintained in proper parallel positionrelative to the frame 44. A slot 62 (Figs. 6 and'7) is provided at the top of the housing or upper part 21 of the carriage near its forward end in which the guides 63 and 64 are mounted and through which the sheet .is fed to printing position.

A pair of oppositely disposed transverse ribs 65 (Figs. 6, 7 and 10) are arranged on each end of the upper portion 21 of the carriage and receive bearing blocks 66 (Figs. 8 and 10) in which the shaft 67 of the platen 16-is revolubly mounted. Screws 69 (Fig. 8) extend through the housing 21 of the carriage and threadedly engage the blocks 66. Springs 70 confined between the heads 71 of the set screws 69, and the projections 72 normally hold the platen in receded position. Cam members 73 are arranged at the outer end of platen shaft 67 and are adapted to be operated to maintain the platen in impression position (Fig. 6) or in receded position (Fig. Thumb nuts 74 are threaded in the carriage housing 21 and receive the threaded members 75 which have a lower pitch than the thumb nuts 74. The threaded members 75 carry rollers 7 6 (Fig. 8) in slots 7 6 to engage the cam members 7 3 which extend into the slots and are guided by the walls thereof (Fig. 8). It will be noted that the thumb nuts 74 have a relatively high pitch outside thread and a relatively low pitch inside thread so that a fine adjustment of the threaded members 75 may be easily obtained by a relatively rough adjustment of the thumb nuts. and in this way the platen can be easily adjusted to secure the desired impression effect.

A sheet feed roller 77 (Figs. 6,7 and 10) is pivotally mounted in the yoke 78 which is pivoted at 78 at each side of the housing 21. A pinion 79 is fixed to the feed roller shaft 80 and engages a pinion 81 (Fig. 11) which meshes with the rack 82 fastened to the main frame. A pair of blocks 88 (Figs. 6, 7 and 11) have relatively large slots 84 (Figs. 6 and 7) which receive the feed roller shaft 80 and provide a semi-flexible bearing for the feed roller 77. Set screws 85 extend through the housing 21 and engage the blocks 83 for adjustin the feed roller relative to the laten 68. Springs 86 normally urge the bloc lis 83 inwardly so that the feed roller shaft normally attains the position in the slot 84 shown in Fig. 7. A relatively heavy spring 87 connected to a pin 88 on the yoke 78 and to a pin 88 on the housing 21 normally urges the yoke toward the platen with the feed roller positioned to engage the platen. The feed roller 7 7 is rotated during reciprocation of'the carriage by the pinion 79 operated by the pinion 80 which engages rack 82.

The platen is lowered to printing position at the end of the rearward stroke of the carriage and receded or raised from printing position at the end of the forward stroke so that when the carriage returns rearwardly the platen will not come in contact with the ribbon or t-hebody form. The platen is operated by means of the cams 73, and an arm 89 fixed to one of the cams 73 operates to move the cams 73 to operate the platen. A. pin 90 on the arm 89 engages the shoulder 91' on the arm 91 at the end of the rearward stroke of the carriage and operates the arm 89 to bring the platen to impression position relative to the body form and then print a sheet during the forward movement of the carriage. When the carriage reaches the end of its forward stroke the pin 90 will strike a lug 92 on the main frame 13 and operate the arm 89 and move the cams and raise the platen from printing position.

A sheet is fed between the platen 16 and the feed roller '7'? during forward or printing stroke of the carriage. The fee-:1 roller is in contact with the platen during the forward or printing stroke of the carriage and is r tracted from the platen during the rearwaxl stroke of the carriage to provide a space between the feed roller and the platen so that a sheet may be readily inserted in the sheet feed slot 62. An arm 93 (Figs. 6 and 7) rigid with the yo re 78 adapted to be ope. ed to move the feed roller toward or y the platen. A tripper 9 1 pivoted to the yoke at 95 holds the yoke in inoperative or retracted position relativeto the platen (Figs. 8, 9. and 11). The tripper 9 1- has a notch 96 at its upper end which is adapted to engage projection 97 on the screw 98 to hold the yoke in either retracted or contacting position relative to the platen 16. hit the beginning of the forward movement of the carriage the tripper 9 1 will strike a spring 101 1) on the main frame and disengage the tripper from the projection 97 on the set screw 98 and the .r ring 87 will pull the yoke toward the platen to bring the feed roller against the platen, a sheet. At the end of the fol-ware,

stroke of the carriage, the arm feed roller yoke 78 will strike the pressed dog 92 on the main frame an the feed roller to retracted posit-ion. the yoke is thus returned to retracted tion, the spring 9%, extended between in on yoke 78 and the tripper 9e, restores the tripper 9 1 to the left 11) with its notch 96 in engagement with the projection 97 to lock the yoke and feed roller in retracted position. When the tripper 9-1 is operated by the spring 101 during the forward stroke of the carriage, it will disengage the tripper from the projection 97 and permit the spring 87 to pull the yoke 77 so that the feed roller will engage the platen 68.

The spring 101 is slidably arranged on the main frame so that the tripper may be operated to bring the feed roller in engaging position with the platen at any desired point. Vfhen the feed roller is not contacting with the platen the sheet is manually passed below the feed roller and the spring 101 may be set at any position to determine when the feeding of the sheet will commence. In this manner the machine is adapted to print from body forms of any desired length and from sheets of different sizes. The sheet magazine 18 is on the carriage and therefore the sheets are accessible and'can be easily withdrawn manually to be passed below the feed roller.

It is desired that safety means be provided to prevent the platen from operating and attaining printing position when a sheet is not fed so that the platen will not come in contact with the ribbon. The sheet safety means comprise a longitudinal plate 102 (Figs. 8 and 10) which is maintained in position by the pins 108 extending through diagonal longitudinal slots 10% in the plate 102. A finger 105 (Fig. 8) is provided with a pair of slots 106, and is slidingly maintained in position on the arm 107 (Fig. 10) fixed to the housing 21 by the set screws 108 and 109. A bell crank 110 pivoted on the screw 109, and extending through one of the slots 106 has a bifurcated arm 111 (Fig. 8) which engages a pin 112 on the finger 105. A link 113 is connected to the arm 11 1- of the bell crank 110 and to the plate 102 and moves the plate 102 during vertical movement of the linger 105. A spring 115 is connected to the plate 102 to normally urge the arm 11% of the bell crank 110 to the left (Fig. 8) so that the finger 105 is normally in downward position. The edge 116 (Fig. 10) of the plate 102 is located adjacent the paper feed slot 62 and is urged inwardly across the slot when the arm 105 is moved upwardly. The machine is designed to feed a sheet into printing position and the impression is made while the sheet is being fed during forward movement of the carriage. in proper position in the slot 62 and the can riage is brought to the end of its rearward stroke to initial position, the finger 105 will strike the arm 91 and tend to operate the sheet safety means. 105 (Fig. 6) connected to the arm 91 does not offer suliicient tension to raise the arm 105 because the plate 102 will engage the sheet and set up resistance. During rearward movement of the carriage the shoulder lVhen a sheet is However, the spring 91 (Figure 1b) of the arm 91 will operate on the pin 90 to move the platen to printing position and the finger 105 will depress the arm 91 because of the resistance set up by the sheet, so that the shoulder 91" on the arm 91 will not engage the pin 90 to recede the platen during forward movement of the carriage. When there is no sheet in the slot 62, there will be no resistance on the plate 102 or finger 105 and the arm 91 will not be operated by the finger 105 but will operate the arm 89 to lower the platen into impression position as the pin 90 strikes the shoulder 91. Upon forward movement of the carriage the pin 90 will strike the shoulder 91 and recede the platen.

A cross bar 117 (Figs. 3 and 4:) is provided with clips 118 which receive the plate 119 to which the two tapes 120 are connected. These tapes pass around rollers 121 which are loosely mounted on the transverse shaft 122, pass around the rollers 123 at the opposite end of the frame, and are fastened to the pins 124 on the bottom of the carriage. The rollers 123 are loosely mounted on yokes 125, on the transverse shaft 126 supported in the forward end of the main frame. Springs 127 secured to the yokes and to the main frame normally pull the yokes forward to provide the necessary tension on the tapes. Collars 128 (Fig. 3a) are arranged at the sides of the yokes and a set screw 129 is provided in each collar to prevent lateral movement of the yokes and to permit adjustment thereof. The tapes carry the sheet away after it has been printed and deliver it to the sheet removing mechanism, where the sheet is carried and deposited in the drawer 130 slidable in the bottom of the frame. The sheet carryin mechanism comprises a sprocket 131 Fig. 3) which is fixed to the transverse shaft 122 and operates a roller 132' through the medium of a ratchet clutch (not shown) of common construction. A chain 133 trained around the sprocket and around the collar 132 is connected to a pin 134 on the carriage so that when the carriage is moved the chain will move therewith and 0 rate the ratchet. A pair of rollers 135 ig. 3) are arranged adjacent the roller 23 and engage the chain to take up slack therein and maintain the chain in proper position. A roller 136 mounted on the arm 137 at the forward end of the main frame assists in taking up the slack in the chain and keeps it taut and prevents sagging. A belt 138 is supported by'the rollers 139 and is operated by the roller 132' which is rigidly mounted on the shaft 122. During forward movement of the carriage the sprocket is disengaged from the shaft 122 by the ratchet clutch and therefore from the roller 132 and the belt 138 remains stationary. When the carriage is moved rearwardly the sprocket is engaged with the shaft 122 by the ratchet clutch and therefore with the roller 132 and operates the belt 138. The printed sheet is delivered by the tapes into the throat between the roller 132 and the belt 138 which carry the sheet away and deposit it in the drawer 130. Due to the different diameters of the sprocket 131 and the roller 132, the latter causes relatively fast movement of the belt 138 as compared with the movement of the tapes 120 so that the printed sheet is re,- moved from the form at a relatively high rate of speed. An adjusting screw 138 is provided to take up any slack that may ocour in the belt 138. The drawer is slidably mounted on a pair of longitudinal rods 141 (Fig. 2) which are supported in the machine.

The housing 21 of the carriage is pivotally connected to the lower part 20 by a pin 1 14. A bolt 145 (Fig. 12) is arranged in the housing on the side opposite the pin 1 14: and it is provided with projections 146 which are adapted to engage the projections 146 on the lower part to lock two parts of the main frame together. A spring 147 normally holds the bolt 145 in locked position. Forward movement to the left (Fig. 12) of the bolt is limited by the shoulder 148 which engages the pin 149. A screw 150 (Fig. 12) is mounted in the yoke 7 8 and a flexible metal strip 151 is connected to the screw 150 and to the member 152 and engages the platen roller 16 to properly guide the sheet through printing position and onto the upper side of tapes 120 (Figs. 6 and 12). A spring member 153 is fastened to the yoke 78 by the screw 154 and bears against the member 151 so that the member 151 will constantly be in engagement with the platen roller. An operating handle 155 is connected to the front end of the carriage for operating the carriage.

In the foregoing description we have set forth a machine wherein the sheets may be arranged in a suitable holder from which the sheets may be withdrawn and directed to a feeding arrangement whereby the fed sheet will be directed under the platen roller which will perform a printing operation thereon, and which device will operate to remove the sheet after the performance of the printing operation and which will feed the sheet into a suitable storage member. Furthermore, the device is so arranged that the platen will not act to perform a printing operation unless a sheet has been properly fed even though the carriage is operated in the manner which brings about a printing operation.

While we have illustrated and described a selected embodiment of our invention it is to be understood that this is capable of Variation and modification and we therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details set forth, but desire to avail ourselves of such changes and alterations as fall Within the scope of the following claims:

We claim:

1. A printing machine comprising a frame having a printing form thereon, a carriage movable over said form, an impression platen carried by the carriage, a sheet supply holder on the carriage, and abatle in said holder and engageable with sheets in said holder above the lower edges thereof to hold said sheets flatly in said iolder.

2. A printing machine comprising a frame having a printing form thereon, a carriage movable on said frame, a platen on said carriage, a feed roller on said carriage means for lowering the platen to printing position at the end of the return stroke of the carriage, means for feeding a sheet between the platen and the feed roller, and means for receding the platen upon printing stroke of the carriage when a sheet is not in proper position in the carriage for printin 3. A printing machine comprising a frame having a printing form thereon, a carriage movable on said frame, a platen and a feed roller on said carriage, means for lowering the platen to printing position at the end of the return stroke of the carriage, means for feeding a sheet to be pinted between the platen and the feed roller, means for rec ding the platen upon printing stroke of the carria e when a sheet is not in proper position in the carriage to be printed, and means for moving the feed roller against the platen during the printing stroke of the car riage.

4. A printing machine comprising a frame having a printing form thereon, a carriage movable on said frame, means for feeding and printing sheet during forward movement of the carriage, means for carrying the printed sheet off the form upon return movement of the carriage, and means operatin at a greater rate of speed than said carrying means for removing the sheet from the frame.

5. A printing machine comprising a frame having a printing form thereon, a carriage movable on said frame, means for feeding and printing a sheet during forward movement of the carriage, means for carrying the printed sheet 05 the form upon the return movement of the carriage, means operating at a greater rate of speed than said carrying means for removing the sheet from the frame, and means for receiving said sheets from said last-named means.

6. A printing machine comprising a frame having a printing form mounted thereon, a carriage movable over said form, an impression platen carried by the carriage, a sheet supply holder on the carriage and adapted to carry a supply of sheets to be printed, means for directing a sheet manually withdrawn from said sheet supply holder to said platen, and means cooperating with said platen for feeding the sheet thereto during the printing operation thereof.

7. A printing machine comprising a frame having a printing form thereon, a carriage movable on said frame, a platen, on said carriage, a sheet supply holder on the carriage and adapted to carry a supply of sheets to be printed, a sheet roller on said carriage,

means for guiding a sheet manually withdrawn from said holder between the platen and the sheet roller, and means for positioning the platen in printing position during movement of the carriage in one direction over said form whereby an impression will be made on said sheet.

8. A printing machine comprising a frame having a printing form thereon, a carriage movable over said form, an impression platen carried by the carriage and movable toward said printing form upon movement of the carriage in one direction and away from said printing form upon movement of said carriage in the opposite direction, and means for preventing movement of the carriage in a direction opposite to the direction in which it is being moved until the end of the stroke in said direction is completed.

9. A printing machine comprising a frame having a printing form thereon, a carriage movable over said form, an impression platen carried by the carriage, sheet supply holder on the carriage, means for regulating the size of said holder in accordance with the sheets to be handled in the machine whereby said sheets may be neatly arranged in said holder, a battle in said holder, a feeding roller in said carriage cooperating with said impression platen to interpose a sheet between said impression platen and said form, and means for guiding a sheet manually Withdrawn from said holder and inserted thereinto to said feeding roller.

HERBERT L. THOMPSON. ELI WVILDERSON. 

